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Table of Contents 

• Topic 1: What is MDA SHIELD?
• Topic 2: Am I a Good Fit for MDA SHIELD?
• Topic 3: Submission Requirements
• Topic 4: What to Do Now

Topic 1: What is MDA SHIELD?

The Missile Defense Agency’s (MDA) Multiple Award Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) is a major acquisition activity to deliver an advanced, multi-domain defense system designed to detect, track, intercept, and neutralize threats to the U.S. homeland, deployed forces, allies, and partners across all phases of flight by ballistic, hypersonic, cruise missile, and other advanced aerial attacks. It provides a key contracting vehicle to support the implementation of the Golden Dome. The Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (MA-IDIQ) contract supports both classified and unclassified efforts for Department of Defense (DoD) (also referred to as the Department of War) agencies with a focus on providing continuous, layered protection against air, missile, space, cyber, and hybrid threats from any vector, including land, sea, air, space, or cyberspace.  

SHIELD emphasizes rapid delivery of innovative capabilities such as artificial intelligence, digital engineering, open systems architectures, and agile processes, and covers a wide range of work areas (19 in total), including research and development (R&D), prototyping, systems engineering, weapon development, integration, production, sustainment, modernization, and cybersecurity. The RFP states that the contract is not intended for Advisory or Assistance Services (A&AS) or Systems Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA), according to Section C of the RFP. 

Fast Facts 

Topic 2: Am I a Good Fit for MDA SHIELD?

Even though the proposal submission requirements are pretty straightforward, there are a few important factors to keep in mind.  

First, it’s important to understand that this IDIQ is explicitly not for A&AS or SETA purposes, so if those are the types of services your company provides, this MA-IDIQ may not be a good match. Second, even though the Section C work areas cover a wide range of capabilities, it’s important to note that the government’s end goal is to procure capabilities that, at their core, have a missile defense or similar application. That is vital to keep in mind as you think about the potential client base, too – this is really designed to be used by defense agencies; it is not a gateway to all Federal agencies. (Tip: If you’re second-guessing your company’s alignment to this IDIQ after reading that, give us a call and we will provide a free 30-minute consultation on whether this vehicle is a good fit, or if there are others you should consider.) For awareness, awardees will be off-ramped if they fail to submit a compliant bid at the Task Order level after 12 consecutive months.  

Additionally, the Government is looking to move fast on this. Is your company positioned to respond to task order solicitations rapidly and manage multiple, concurrent orders? Speaking realistically, the high contract ceiling and general mission of this IDIQ may jeopardize the vehicle’s longevity as the battlespace and political priorities change. Said another way, this could be a “flash in the pan” opportunity where the “winners” are the companies ready to deliver capabilities on day one. 

If you feel like you’re aligned with the scope, client base, and speed of this procurement, read on to see what you need to do now.

Topic 3: Submission Requirements

The SHIELD submission requirements are straightforward, as detailed in Section L of the RFP. To be eligible for award, you must meet all solicitation requirements. (Reminder: The Government intends to award contracts to all qualifying offerors.) 

Notably, the Government explicitly states that “elaborate brochures or documentation” will not be evaluated if submitted, so avoid including them. Instead, focus on adhering strictly to the provided templates. Deviating from these templates could result in non-compliance. 

For any proposal content outside the government-provided templates, refer to the formatting instructions in Section L-1.4. Proposals must follow the structure and formatting outlined in Table L-1.3 (pages 116-117 of the RFP).

Topic 4: What to Do Now

To start, download and review the full RFP and all attachments [link] to understand the requirements, evaluation criteria, and submission instructions. Be sure to “Follow” the SAM.gov notice so you can stay up to date with amendments! 

If you haven’t already done so, register in the Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment (PIEE) Solicitation Module as soon as possible because this is how you will submit your proposal! Notably, the Government is encouraging early submissions, as it anticipates a high volume of responses. (If you’d like to submit early, we recommend waiting until the government answers questions.)  

This is also a good time to ensure your company’s SAM.gov registration is active and up to date, and review Attachment C_01_NAICS_Codes to determine if you need to register for additional NAICS codes.  

Need help preparing your proposal? Want to avoid last-minute issues with compliance, formatting, or electronic submission? Give us a call! 

Written by Karen Haddock and AI 

This blog represents a balanced collaboration between AI and Karen Haddock. All AI-generated content is reviewed, corrected, and validated by Trident staff to maintain our commitment to quality and the human touch. 

Karen is a proposal manager at Trident Proposal Management and a former U.S. Army Officer with extensive experience in project management, logistics, and education. Based on the East Coast, she supports clients around the world as part of our globally dispersed team.